pixel-chain-story

Bootstrap — start lighting without $21M or a free bag

The confusion

Myth	Reality
1 PIX = $1, so 21M PIX = $21M to start	Hard cap ≠ dollar FDV. Price is discovered. Cap is scarcity math only.
Someone must premine / airdrop bags	Illumination mints the schedule; no “give me 1000.”
You need PIX before you can join	False for lighting, shining in, building, registering the world

Chicken-and-egg — resolved

Problem: Kindling needs PIX; PIX needs illumination; illumination needs… someone to start.

Start today (pick one):

1. Illuminate — run a node, join sequencers, reveal pending light → earn 50 PIX/pixel in era 0 (no dollars, no prior PIX).
2. Shine in — lock $5 USDC / wire → PIX to your Personal Source from bridge escrow (escrow filled by people who already earned PIX; not new print at the moment of your buy).
3. Receive — Kindling with someone who lit or shone in.
4. Build — Light Credits (uncapped) so apps/SISO aren’t blocked by scarce PIX.
5. Register — shine in mcflamingo.com / treasury without buying the money supply.

Who fills the bridge escrow?

Illuminators and LPs who earned PIX and choose to provide liquidity.
That is voluntary market structure — not a founder mint into a “treasury coin.”

Pricing

• Pilot ingress quotes (BOOTSTRAP_INGRESS_PIX_PER_USD) are operator quotes, not a peg.
• Never do 21_000_000 × quote and call it valuation.
• Early PIX can be nearly worthless in dollars while the picture still grows — same as early Bitcoin.

Fair launch shape

Pixel #0..209999  → 50 PIX light reward each (era 0)
Then halvings…    → toward 21M

People start by painting cells, not by receiving a bag in Discord.